Josie ||Billy Hargrove|| (18+)

ONE

It's a nice, quiet fall morning in Hawkins, Indiana. A slight breeze flows through the air; it's October 1984. Roughly a year after it all happened, the disappearance, death proclamation and sudden reappearance of this one kid, Will Byers. His mother, Joyce Byers, alleges that Will was the subject of a secret government program run by the Hawkins National Laboratory. Another report explains his reappearance by a mistake involving the post-mortem identification of the boy. Regardless of what truly happened, Will has returned and appears to be in good health. All parties involved have also healed from their afflicted injuries, though the general public is unaware of their involvement; for them, it has been a difficult thing to forget.

"Bye, Steve! See you at school!" Josie yelled at her brother before hurrying to her car, a beautiful Ford Mustang, her baby. Like Steve, she had received her car from their dad, Josie thinks it's to compensate for their parents' frequent absence.

Josie jumped into her car and sped off before Steve could protest her going to school alone. School doesn't start for another hour, but she wanted to get out of the house before her brother and uses that time to hang out in her car and listen to music.

She stood there in the parking lot of Hawkins High for about half an hour before she saw her brother's familiar BMW pull up, like every morning, he picked Nancy Wheeler up for school.

"They're a cute couple, good for him for finally getting someone good," she said to herself. She was truly happy for him, yet jealousy could rear its ugly head now and then.

Just as she stepped out of her car, hiding her newly lit cigarette behind her leg, a very loud car entered the grounds. A 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 with a California license plate revved its engine before finding a spot and parking it there, rock you like a hurricane by Scorpions blasting through the open car windows. As soon as the car turned off, a red-headed girl exited and skated off. At the same time, a guy stepped out from the driver's seat.

When he stepped out of the car, Josie noticed him, only because he made himself so noticeable.

He moved with an easy, deliberate confidence, tall and lean, like he was used to being watched and didn't mind it. His dirty-blond hair fell in thick, wavy layers around his face, sun-touched and unruly, the kind that never stayed in place for long. He pushed it back absently, a habitual gesture that looked practised rather than nervous.

He wore a fitted T-shirt, a denim jacket and jeans, simple but intentional, the clothes sitting comfortably on a frame that made them work without effort. There was nothing flashy about it, just enough to register as attractive without demanding attention. And she registered it, filed it away with mild, detached interest. Objectively good-looking. Probably aware of it.

His expression stayed relaxed as he shut the car door, a faint smirk at the corner of his mouth, eyes scanning the lot with casual appraisal. Not searching for anyone in particular. Not lingering. When his gaze passed over her, it didn't pause, and she didn't expect it to.

She felt no pull toward him, no instinctive warning either. Just awareness, the way you notice a new variable enter a familiar equation. Someone new, someone confident, someone likely to stir things up, but not her problem.

At least not yet.

"What a clown," Steve's voice came from behind Josie, snapping her out of the daze the newcomer had put her in.

She looked at her twin; they shared the same fabulous hair, though she put far less effort into it than he did.

"Really? Smoking on school grounds?" Steve snatched the half-burned cigarette from her hand and tossed it away.

Josie rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Dad."

She pushed past her only slightly older brother toward the main entrance.